The statement “A journey is only defined by its eventual destination” could describe a spectator’s understanding of movement. In relation to immigration this statement could represent an observer’s common interpretation of an immigrant’s travels. Whether or not an immigrant moves with an intended destination, onlookers will often outline the journey in terms of relative location. In other words, despite the fact that many immigrants would view a journey as a process of moving, non-immigrants often view a journey as a series of events strictly bounded by two book ends: initial location and destination.

     Rather than describing a journey in terms of progressive experiential shifts, people tend to focus on geographical or environmental shifts. As stated well in There's no Jose Here, “[I}mmigration is. . . . the hope of superando, of breaking new ground, building a better life for oneself and one’s children” (Garbriel Thompson, 41). In addition to demanding movement, immigration involves exposing oneself to unfamiliar terrain in the hope of receiving more opportunities or benefits. For an immigrant, immigration encompasses the whole process of transitioning from one culture to another, and constructing a new life. That is, the journey becomes defined by the act of crossing over cultural boundaries and reconstruction. The danger of framing a journey in terms of destination is the question 'what determines when the person has arrived?' The word ‘destination’ possesses final qualities that can prescript the meaning of a journey.

     Consequently, when an immigrant settles in a new country, perhaps there exists the temptation to believe that one who has reached the final destination. Among the immigrants who consider, for example, America the place of their dreams, perhaps these foreigners impose meaning to their travels based upon where they have arrived. The immigrants define their journey within the perimeters of physical movement, which they believe is enough to change everything, despite the possibility that the journey has not actually ended. That is, perhaps there remains the struggle to establish oneself in such a competitive and economically unequal society. The problem of setting a destination is achieving the abstract sense of arrival.

Word Count: 346

Reference

Thompson, G. (2007). There's no José here: Following the hidden lives of Mexican immigrants. New York: Nation Books.